The War On Parents

There has been growing instances of gov't intervention for CIVIL child abuse in the poor and minority communities. You've probably seen a small portion making the news these days. Father charged for spanking; mother charged for letting her child go to the park; these cases are now being charged criminally but the charges are always dropped because it’s still not criminal. The consequences for these parents are CIVIL, by the removal of their children. These disadvantaged groups can little afford to assert their rights. The message has been sent out across the land that parental authority is no more. The gov't, via "experts", knows best.

This is part of a growing campaign that started in the 70's with the passage of the Child Welfare act. A bunch of behavioral scientists got together to start the War on Parents. The Child Welfare act created a lucrative child re-distribution industry for the behavioral sciences fueled with federal dollars that funds all this "expert" research. They had wide spread support in the beginning by focusing on CRIMINAL child abuse and neglect. Americans felt compelled to help children of socially deviant parents who uncharacteristically meant to maliciously harm their own children. It was never meant to remove children from parents for making a medical decision, or for being poor, homeless, a spanking or even making a parenting mistake. However this group's definition of child abuse was much more all-inclusive and It had a social agenda to change American values regarding privacy and liberty. While the public saw child abuse as an exception this group saw it as the norm, and set out to change it. This group see's children as "creatures of the state" and parents as mere "Trustees" of children with no special significance to the child's developmental needs or the liberty interest of free societies. They feel they could find "better parents" for just about any kid out there. They started a "new" science, a voodoo science if you will, that aimed to predict human behavior. Armed with this neo-science they aim to convince the masses that parental authority should be second to "expert" opinion. If you are poor, if you are a minority, if you are a single parent, if you are divorced, "scientifically" you are more prone to abuse your child. If you make a parenting mistake or "experts" disagree with your parenting decision, your child could be "removed" based on "neo-science". Don't argue with your boyfriend, Don't let your kids play outside, don't leave them alone in the house for even minute, and for goodness sake don't spank them, or else the gov't will take your kids! Recently this group was successful in getting "universal" home visits for new parents via Obamacare. The ramifications are scary. Their goal is to create a more peaceful world, so they feel social engineering is justified . I think they are misguided and as the supreme court expressed, "its repugnant to American tradition".

Today, the behavioral scientists are trying to make the new arguments for what consitutes child abuse by "proving" it with “research”. So, now, anyone who spanks their child is a child abuser. Yes, they are saying that our parents were all child abusers. If you were spanked you were a victim of abuse which is 85% of us. They argue that just because behavior is traditional and widely accepted does not mean it is not abusive to children. That includes American traditions in the constitution. You see, the experts know best how to raise children, not parents. When you implement that through a gov't agency, you have the makings of "big brother". This group has had free rein under the Obama administration, since the current child protection laws are vague, gov't agencies have an open door to implement policy as they see fit. So, even if spanking is not CRIMINAL child abuse by law. A gov't agency can consider it CIVIL child abuse, use a lower burden of proof, and remove a child. Be afraid, be very afraid.

As a result of the social experiment this group has started, we are in uncharted waters and the ramifications to society are already profound. Child abuse has increase 10 fold since the passing of the child welfare act. No other crime has had this happen. No other gov't agency has consistently failed in its mission all across the country as the one created by the Child Welfare act. School violence, mental illness, drug use, poverty, homelessness, better or worse? America, look around you is the world better off being raised by experts?

I think this group has trouble understanding the difference between adverse child experience which is acute and can be used to learn and build character verses child abuse which is chronic, teaches nothing and is destructive. A professional football player recently thanked his mom for his success by describing how little they had, living in an apartment with no furniture and working 2 jobs. This situation would have undoubtedly resulted in removal if gov’t agencies investigated. Does anyone think this man would have been better off living in foster care?

When the public supported Child welfare, nobody imagined children who were "A" students being removed from parents because of a spanking or parents being arrested for letting there kids play outside. We can still protect children from deviant parents without the social agenda that replaces parental authority. It requires focusing existing child welfare legislation so that it respects privacy, liberty, and parental authority a cornerstone of American tradition.

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